Time Twist
by DoingJeanOnTheSide
Summary: Skyward Sword. When Link's adventure starts up completely again, he has no choice but to start up immediately from where he left off and save his Princess this time. LinkxZelda


Stairs seemed to be the biggest hindrance of them all at the moment, but they couldn't be in the way, not now, anytime but now. He could hear the metaphorical ticking in his ear, of a metaphorical clock, telling him of the all but metaphorical time he had left before he would lose everything, everything he had come to love.

He could only stop for a minute now, just long enough to slug the Master Sword back over his back and to bend over to catch a breath. A breath, something he knew could never be taken for granted again. Taking a quick wipe at his cheek, where a cut was still bleeding due to his carelessness. What blood was left dripped onto his glove, the brown leather glove he adorned on both hands.

But now was not the time for such trivial things as a scratch—which was bleeding more than he had anticipated—now was the time for some sort of action. The ticking in his ear was getting louder, like the time for the simplest of bombs. And this was a bomb, of some sort.

Finally, standing straight on his own two booted feet, the green tunic clad hero began to run again. And run he did, faster than he ever thought possible. The stairs on the inside of this fort were no match for him now, not with the thought of losing everything came to mind. Only now he could recall how this had even happened. It had been just a normal day, just any other normal day, nothing out of the ordinary. He'd slept far past noon again…

"_Come on, sleepy head, it's time to wake up," That sweet voice rang though, but said sleepy head just rolled over and pretended not to hear._

_There was a giggle, "Well alright then, if that's how you feel," another giggle, "you've missed lunch already, but I'm sure you'll wake up when you get hungry," yet another giggle before he heard the door close. That heavenly owner of that sweet voice was gone. And all he could do was sigh and pull the quilt that so snugly decorated his bed, over his head._

_And that was when he woke up again. He couldn't tell how long it had been, but everything was dark and quiet. Until he heard something, like a commotion. But it was more than that, a scream, a dreadful sounding scream that bit right to the bone before finally allowing the shiver of fear to run up and down your spine thrice times over before you realized that something was wrong. Jumping out of bed and to his feet, the boy burst out of the room, and ever farther until he was out of the large building. _

_Outside, how could things have gotten this bad so fast? He swore he was just asleep for a few minutes, maybe even a half an hour at the most. But not this long, not long enough for this such chaos to ensue on the grounds laid out in front of the very building he slept in. No, not that long. But he recalled that feeling before letting himself go back to sleep. A feeling that he was sick, sick enough to want to stay in bed until the next morning light of the following week came, and longer still after that. Nothing could've stopped him from falling asleep then, that feeling was too overwhelming. _

_Shaking his head, he threw the feeling to the side, there had to be something that caused that. But he wasn't the issue anymore, no. His friend was; that scream was all too recognizable. He'd heard it just weeks before now, just weeks. Again, he picked up into a run to find some sort of lead as to what was happening._

"_Link, LINK!" He heard, making his feet skid to a stop right where he stood. Inertia was always working against him, but he turned as fast as he could to look at his caller._

_The larger man stopped to catch his breath, puffing out syllables that Link couldn't understand for the life of him. He didn't have time to decipher this! Gripping his hands into fists, he proceeded to demand an answer._

_Another puff, "T-trying to c-catch my b-breath," the red-haired man said, puffing and huffing some more._

_Link paused and waited, more calmly this time, but not to say he was overly happy about what was going on._

"_S-Something happened," the man, Groose, finally exhaled out. "I don't know what, but someone must've messed with the Gate of Time. It appeared again, and someone came through it!"_

"_Who was it?" Link asked, stepping down to a single knee to better hear Groose's words through all the panting. There was a small crinkle in his nose as he listened._

"_I don't know, but he came straight here. He must've been looking for someone, that's all I can tell. And he was; he knew right where to find Zelda! He took her, she's gone, Link!" He started to scream, after seemingly finally catching his breath._

"_What?!" Link shouted back, standing up and letting his fists clench again._

"_I would've gotten you sooner, but you've been dead asleep for almost a week!" Groose informed. "Tried everything, nothing worked."_

_Link bit his bottom lip, letting his eyes roam elsewhere as he thought this over. He was asleep. But he couldn't have been. Passed out maybe? Who knew, but at the moment, he could've cared less about himself. According to Groose, Zelda was gone again. And he had to find her. But with what? Weeks ago, he'd given up the only weapon he had._

"_What about the Triforce?" Link asked, suddenly bringing himself back to reality._

_Groose shook his head, "S'fine. Hasn't been touched."_

_Link bit his lip again. Now wasn't that just strange? Link shook his head._

"_What am I supposed to do then?" He asked, under the impression that maybe someone else knew._

_Groose shook his head, and that was the last Link needed to hear._

_He took off running, not the way he was expected to go. No, he went back into the building he came from. While most people would've considered putting on some actual clothes as petty indulgence, something this required more armor than the sleeping clothes Link had on at the moment._

_Before long, Link was on his away again, running at a relatively slow pace compared to what he would normally have to do. But the Temple wasn't that far away, and inside it was the Gate. Before he could go there though, he had to see if he could re-obtain the Master Sword. If he could, this would be a snap. If not… Well let's not think about that. _

::

_A quick sigh before he ascended the stone stairs. At the top, lied a pedestal, that, he remembered well. All he'd have to do wrap his newly re-gloved hands around the hilt of the sword and pull. And yet, it seemed a most daunting task at the moment. Daunting indeed._

_Finally reaching the top, Link did just as he thought he would. He took the few strides it would take to reach the pedestal. He stopped for a moment, looking at the sword. There was only a slight chance this would work, just a slight one. And he was going to take it. If it didn't work, he'd find some way to make sure Zelda could come home again, to guard the Triforce on the moral Earth as she had wished. After all the waiting, Link stepped forward the last foot or so. Here, he stood for just a moment before he took his hands to the grip of the Master Sword. Said hands clamped around the grip tightly. With feet steadily planted to the ground for proper leverage, he began to pull at the Sword, just on the off chance that it would work again. Just for this once. Just this day. Just now._

_And it did. The sword slid easily from the indentation where it was placed. Light glowed as the Master Sword was taken from its resting place yet again. Though it was strange, to have the sword, that he was told had served its purpose and was for him no longer, to slide so easily out of place, as if it knew the purpose was somehow prolonged._

_But Link couldn't linger on that, he had to leave now. He had to leave now._

With the stairs behind him, Link picked up his pace even more, after having been slowed down by those cursed things. By now, his vision was blurring, just slightly, from the sweat and that cut he'd forgotten about on his forehead, just to the side of the eye, while still going up onto his forehead. It was bleeding down into his eye, but he didn't take the time to wipe it either. Just kept going.

That was when he heard another scream. How long had it been since he heard that scream? Just a few days, since he was last at Skyloft, which in hindsight needed a new name. But just the thought of it made his blood boil, a scowl form on his face. This time, he stopped only to draw the Master Sword from his back, before he took off full speed.

"This isn't good," he mumbled to himself as he suddenly came to a stop. Just in front of him was a doorway, minus the door, into which was a large room with some sort of a stone alter in front of it. There, he saw that young blonde girl. Link started to rush forward, when that foreshadowing feeling he had came true. Something large dropped from the ceiling, _somethings_.

A slight gasp before he stepped back, his shield coming to rest on his forearm and his sword in hand now. The two large creatures stepped forward, completely blocking the view of the girl, who was being held back by _something_. Each lizard creature bore some sort of earthen gauntlet upon their arm, a spiked sphere upon their tale. The green scales, a dark pale green that assumed something like vomit, seemed to flap and secrete some sort of smelly liquid. That tale swung back and forth at a tremendous rate, looking more dangerous by the second as the spiked ball swung with it. These things had become like a long lost cousins, the Lizalfos.

Link struck first, almost jumping forward with a quick slash. The first Lizalfos responded quickly with a block, quickly shooting out the gauntlet arm to make its own attack. Link jumped back slightly to avoid it before doing a horizontal spin, in the air, to hit an open spot in the lizard creature's defense. A perfect hit, followed by two more, before the creature retaliated with a swing of that oozing tail. Link moved back in time to just barely have the pointed thing scrape across his middle, not close enough to do any real damage. Link recovered quickly before going back in with a spin on the ball of his foot, the Master Sword pointed out straight to hit the creature. He missed, as the creature had taken the liberty to back up and let its partner do some work.

Link hadn't seen this one coming, and was quickly hit out of the way with an earthen gauntlet. Rolling backwards along the ground, it took Link a minute to stand again. But when he did, he rushed forward, hitting the slimy lizard with his shoulder to knock it off balance, followed by a slice diagonally down the creature, it stumbled back more before falling. With the force of his legs, he jumped into the air to deliver the killing blow to this lizard, the Master Sword lodging deep within the creature's chest cavity.

It seemed to melt away, but only after that odorous liquid was splashed into Link's face by the force of the sword. From there, though, Link stood and turned easily in the puddle of goo. Bringing the sword up to angle perfectly with the remaining Lizalfos, he charged it, hoping to land that final blow too. But it dodged just in time. Here, Link faltered in his step and fell to the ground, the Master Sword clattering away, yet still close. His eyes followed it, and he froze.

There he saw the girl. Her dress was long, ending just at her ankles and before her sandals, pure white in color. Except the edge alone the bottom seemed to be torn and tattered. Her hair was long and blond, coming to a perfect straight stop near the small of her back. Bangs, the same way. Her face, always heavenly like the mortal goddess she was, was in distress though. Link could only stare as he watched the girl try to run; from whatever that glowing figure was, run to him, but only to be caught. Another scream was let out as her hair was pulled to keep her from going anywhere.

Link felt as though he was frozen in his place as he watched that figure throw Zelda, so very unceremoniously, onto that altar. Something held her there.

Suddenly, Link was thrown from his place, hit square in the jaw by that spiked tail. It was as if he was being thrown back into reality. And he jumped into action again, forgetting the pain as he ran forward. He ducked below the earthen gauntlet, rolled, and on his way back up, grabbed the Master Sword. Spinning was easy in the mess of slime on the stone floor, and the moment he came face to face with the Lizalfos, Link threw the Master Sword. It clattered to the ground as the lizard creature melted into nothing but slime. Link turned again, moving to run towards the door, sanity and weapon forgotten. He missed the moment, a sheen of light cast down, and a strange sort of translucent solid covered the doorway. It started to turn opaque, yet it stayed sheer long enough for Link to make eye-contact with Zelda.

Zelda, she only gave an apologetic look, a tear in the corner of her eye, as she watched Link beat on the door, his own face wrenching her heart in ways unimaginable. He looked like he might cry; sob more like it, being late again, to protect her. She watched as his image faded as the object became less gossamer by the second. It was just in time, the mouthing of an apology. Link slide to the floor to get one last look at Zelda before she was gone. And Zelda sighed.

"No…no…dammit," Link choked, letting the feverish pounds slowly come to a stop. He slid all the way to his knees, hands hitting the stone floor. There, his fist pounded the floor instead.

Suddenly, there was a noise from behind him. The Master Sword, he'd forgotten about it. Scrambling to his feet, he almost slipped in the slime, but still managed to make his way towards the sword. Picking it up, he examined it for a second, then the door. A smirk appeared on his face as he walked back over to said door. Leaning against it, he listened closely.

"And you thought you could escape me," he heard. It was a male voice that sounded oddly familiar. But there was no time to waste on such a trivial fact, "only now, things seem impossible. Nothing will work right, all because of that meddling brat. However, things will still work the same. Only now, I need your soul to create a more stable form for myself," the tone in his voice; Link could _hear_ the smirk on his face. It made his blood boil.

"So be a good little girl and keep that pretty mouth of yours shut. This'll be quick and painless…"

Link had heard enough. Growling, he stepped back and took a tight grip to the hilt of the Master Sword. It took a split second to raise it above his head, and another one to smash it straight into the barrier. It cracked. There was a crack! Link mentally congratulated himself and pushed the sword deeper. Light poured from it in streaks, it tried to fight back against the sword, with the wind and the almost lightning like blows. But Link didn't give up, he pushed deeper before twisting the sword.

The whole thing shattered. A million pieces laid out on the floor, but when the strange glowing figure—it had to be Demise, that was the only explanation—looked to the door way, no one was there. He frowned, turning back to his work. Zelda was the first one to gasp when Link re-appeared into view. It would've been bad, but it was good, knowing she wasn't hurt…yet. Demise turned around to see the fuss, which in turn, he was hit square with the Master Sword, sent tumbling down away from the altar.

"You…" Demise started. But Link gave no reply, standing there, in front of the altar. Demise could only laugh at the way Link looked like he was going to _win_ and protect that girl. Again, no response, only a slight crinkle in the brow as Link's blood boiled even more.

"Foolish boy," Demise sighed, shaking his head, "you actually think you can beat me?"

"I did it once," Link replied, "I'll do it again."

"Hmph, if that's what you believe. Then so be it," Demise smirked, pulling out a sword from what seemed to be thin air, as if nothing.

Link only clenched the Master Sword tighter, turning it less than 90 degrees as he dashed forward. He could tell Demise was expecting a head-on collision, but Link used this to his advantage. He jumped, taking on the appearance that he was going to strike form above, but as Demise leaned up to block, he was proven wrong, as Link landed behind him. Quick to turn, Link slashed the sword down through the air to achieve a hit. It only worked so well. Demise was quick to recoil, turning around and sending Link flying with a well-placed kick.

It was all Link could do, with help from a fearful look from Zelda, to get off the ground. Something was broken, he could feel that. But that didn't matter at the moment, nothing mattered but that girl over there. Link scowled and rushed forward, the two swords meeting blade-to-blade. Both pushed with all their might, trying to get the other to falter. Sparks were flying off the swords.

It wasn't long before just the sheer force of it all pushed the two apart. Link slid away and fell to his knee, using the Master Sword almost like a cane to keep himself from falling. Demise, on the other hand, looked strong still. Huffing, the green clad hero stood again, taking up his sword. He charged, charging as fast as he could, only to meet swords again.

But Link didn't stop where they had the last time. He took back the sword and continued to strike blows, diagonally, from the bottom up, and vise-versa. But Demise just kept blocking, with no trouble at all.

"_Dammit. I'm going to have to try something different," _ Link thought, taking a moment of stillness to backflip away.

Demise could only smirk, "Had enough?" he asked, only to receive no answer.

Link dashed forward, grunting as he jumped up into the air, pulling the sword into an attack as he did so. He just barely hit Demise, who was still quick to recoil after receiving quite the blow to the face, due to a kick. Link was grabbed, by the ankle, and thrown across the room. The pillar he landed in smashed and both he and the rubble feel to the ground. Zelda's gasp was barely heard of the ruckus.

Demise laughed, believing he had defeated the hero, and made his was back over to the golden haired girl. But he was intercepted by the blade of a far too familiar sword. A low grumble erupted from the back of Demise's throat as he met the heated glare that Link bore.

"Little brat," Demise growled, taking to arms again his sword and turning to fight the young hero. Link, however, was more determined than ever to not let this _scum_ touch Zelda. Not now, not ever, never again. That fueled his anger, and that fueled his fighting.

Even after being thrown across the room for the umpteenth time, an obviously broken arm, and maybe a few ribs, Link wouldn't back down. His glare only intensified. The broken arm dropped the shield and came to grip at the Master Sword as well. This time, he was in it for the kill strike. This would be the last time he'd ever see the face of this…_thing_ for a long time. Forever.

He charged, and the rest, that was history. The _shing_ of the sword rang through the room as it sliced clean through the villain, clean through. Leaving behind only the death rattle before he split into two. But oh how he was wrong. Demise wasn't the only one letting out a strangled noise. The hand holding onto the Master Sword limped and dropped it. Looking down, Link let out the same strangled noise Demise had let out not moments ago, and fell to his knees. The sword, although thrown with such carelessness and aimlessness, had still gone straight through Link's torso, regardless if only the slightest bit came all the way though.

Link was too far gone to hear Zelda's scream as he fell.

"—wake up?" Link heard. The voice…it was familiar… Where was he anyway? This didn't feel like stone, not one bit. It felt slightly more cushy than that, but not like a pillow. Like…like a lap. Yeah, that's it. Like his head was in someone's lap.

"I don't know. Maybe never, maybe tomorrow," that voice he knew. It had to be Groose. Link wanted to smile, but for some reason, it hurt too much, even to shift. So he chose to lay there, maybe to back to sleep…

He woke up again, but this time, he was in complete silence. All that could be heard was the soft breathing of someone else, he knew it wasn't himself. Still, he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes, it just seemed too hard at the time. But he had to… he just had to.

"L-Link?" the voice, high pitched and sweet, squeaked out, in pure shock.

Link finally opened his eyes, using them to nod instead of his head, it still hurt.

Zelda, her gorgeous face, smiled brightly, running her hand down the side of his cheek. His head was in her lap, and Link smiled at that. He used all the strength he had to reach for her hand with his good arm and grasp it tightly. Zelda returned the grasp.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, Sleepy Head," Zelda said, laughing, even though those wet drops hitting Link's cheek were her tears.

"I won't…" he croaked out, smiling. Zelda smiled too, the tears continuing.

It was about a week before Link was up and walking again. But when he woke up that day, Zelda wasn't there. He was anxious to go out and find her, but of course, first he had to be _told_ he could leave. That didn't go over well, but he eventually got the a-okay to leave. When he did, he ran—well hobbled—to try and find Zelda.

She was waiting outside, sitting on a tree stump. Link smiled as he watched her, the slight wind blowing through her hair. He took a few steps before sitting on the bench.

"Hey, you weren't there to wake me up," he commented, chuckling at the slight jump in the girl's shoulders. She turned, and immediately broke into a huge smile, though the tear stains were still there.

Link scooted a little closer, close enough to take her hand in his, "Sorry." He said

Zelda shook her head feverishly, "N-no! Don't you apologize, it's my fault, for letting that happen…" she trailed off and looked away.

Link smiled, running his fingers over her cheek before turning her head to face him.

"Link…" she muttered, letting her eyes close as she leaned into his hand.

"Zelda, I'm alright. I'll always be alright, you know that. Don't look so sad, and don't apologize either. I did it for you, because I chose to…"

Zelda smiled, her eyes open again, as she leaned forward. Link leaned forward too, to meet the girl in a hug. Holding her, he took slight notice to how her shoulders shook; he held tighter to quell those shakes, and all the fears.

"I promised that I'd stay here, with you; by your side…remember?" Link asked, resting his head upon hers.

She nodded, the small noise of confirmation was muffled as she buried her face into his chest. In response, Link soothingly rubbed her back.

"Hey," he said as they finally broke apart, tipping up her chin.

"Hm?" She asked.

"You and me, forever," he smiled, leaning in to meet her half way, in a kiss.


End file.
